OneYearBibleOnline Discussion

Gen. 31:19 "When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father's."

Laban is Jacob's uncle. Right? What is he doing with idols?! Is it known specifically what kinds of idols these were? Do we know if his daughters were taught to worship these idols?

SHORT ANSWER
You raise a very interesting question concern Rachel’s theft of her father’s idols when Jacob decided to secretly depart from his uncle / Father-in-law. Jacob had left Laban after completing 20 years of service to obtain his two daughters, Rachel, Leah and various animals.

Genesis 31:19 (New International Version)
19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods.

What was Rachel’s motive to steal her father’s idols? Opinions vary since scripture does not specifically tell us why. They include:

1) Rachel was trying to prevent her father from worshipping them.
2) Prevent Laban from using them in divination to find Jacob.
3) Rachel took them to gain her father's pardon.

Whatever her purpose, God was able to use this deceitful act to force Laban and Jacob to meet again and to agree to a covenant not to ever harm one another.

Genesis 31:44 (New International Version)
44 Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.

LONG ANSWER

Let’s review some biblical vocabulary words so we can understand better the subject of Idols.

Teraphim - Teraphim were heathen household gods or domestic idols in the form of men or gods. They were used for worship in the home to bring prosperity and good luck. They were also used to devinate God’s will or other information like an oracle. Teraphim could be small and portable or life size. They could be stowed away in the pack saddle of a camel, similar to the one the Rachel took. Genesis 31:19

Oracle - An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; usually spiritual in nature. It may also be a revealed prediction or precognition of the future, from deities, that is spoken through another object or life-form. Isaiah 19:1

Ephod - This was a sacred vestment worn originally by the high priest; afterwards by the ordinary priest and characteristic of his office. It was made of fine linen, and consisted of two pieces, which hung from the neck, and covered both the back and front, above the tunic and outer garment. The breastplate was attached to the ephod with the Urim and Thummim. Exodus 28:6

Urim and Thummim - They were objects as a divinely-given means by which God imparted, through the high priest, direction and counsel to Israel when these were needed. The method by which this was done can be only a matter of mere conjecture. They were apparently material objects in addition to the breastplate and its jewels. They may have been, as some suppose, two small images, like the teraphim (compare Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17, 20; Hos. 3:4), which were kept in the bag of the breastplate, by which, in some unknown way, the high priest could give forth his divinely imparted decision when consulted. They were probably lost at the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. They were never seen after the return from captivity.

The idols that Rachel had stolen are called Teraphim in Hebrew or what we know as fetishes; sexual images, from the word turpha. These were images having human form:

1 Samuel 19:13 (New International Version)
13 Then Michal took an idol (teraphim) and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats' hair at the head.

In some cases, they were made out of the shrunken head of a first-born infant. They were not necessarily idols, but here they were used for idolatrous purposes. These teraphim are not be confused with Ephods which could either be a garment set apart for the priest, or other worship tools.

Judges 17:5 (New International Version)
5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.

Judges 18:5 (New International Version)
5 Then they said to him, "Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful."

In general, they were used as a meditative device to obtain messages whether they were from God himself or false idols:

Hosea 3:4 (New International Version)
4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol.

Zechariah 10:2 (New International Version)
2 The idols speak deceit; diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

Laban Pursues Jacob

Now we can review the entire encounter of Rachel’s theft of her father’s idols and the encounter of Jacob and his father-in-law.

Genesis 31:19-35 (New International Version)
19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods. 20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21 So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, [a] he headed for the hill country of Gilead.

22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad."

25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You've deceived me, and you've carried off my daughters like captives in war. 27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps? 28 You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing. 29 I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.' 30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?"

31 Jacob answered Laban, "I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. 32 But if you find anyone who has your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.

33 So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.

35 Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period." So he searched but could not find the household gods.

Why Did She Do It?
After this recount of events, Rachel’s theft is never mentioned again in scripture, so we are left hanging with questions about Rachel’s integrity and why she get not receive a just punishment for possibly endangering her family either but her angry father or by introducing idol worship in Jacob’s clan.

We do have some interesting commentary from various ancient sources that you may want to personally consider. Let’s take a look at a couple of these.

Josephus - An Eyewitness For God
Josephus was a historian who lived from 37 A.D. to about 100 A.D. He was a member of the priestly aristocracy of the Jews, and was taken hostage by the Roman Empire in the great Jewish revolt of 66-70 A.D. Josephus spent the rest of his life in or around Rome as an advisor and historian to three emperors, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. For centuries, the works of Josephus were more widely read in Europe than any book other than the Bible. They are invaluable sources of eyewitness testimony to the development of Western civilization, including the foundation and growth of Christianity in the 1st Century. His Antiquities of the Jews does comment on this theft:

9. Now Jacob fed the flocks of Laban his father-in-law all this time, being twenty years, after which he desired leave of his father-in-law to take his wives and go home; but when his father-in-law would not give him leave, he contrived to do it secretly. He made trial therefore of the disposition of his wives what they thought of this journey; - when they appeared glad, and approved of it. Rachel took along with her the images of the gods, which, according to their laws, they used to worship in their own country, and ran away together with her sister. The children also of them both, and the handmaids, and what possessions they had, went along with them. Jacob also drove away half the cattle, without letting Laban know of it beforehand But the reason why Rachel took the images of the gods, although Jacob had taught her to despise such worship of those gods, was this, That in case they were pursued, and taken by her father, she might have recourse to these images, in order obtain his pardon. (Antiquities of the Jews - Book I Chapter19 Paragraph 9 ~ Josephus)

Midrash and Bereshit Rabba (Commentaries)
Next we turn to some ancient commentaries called midrash to gain a more traditional Jewish perspective.

mĭdˈräsh [Heb.,=to examine, to investigate], verse by verse interpretation of Hebrew Scriptures, consisting of homily and exegesis, by Jewish teachers since about 400 b.c. This body of rabbinic literature contains the earliest speculative thought in the Jewish tradition.

Genesis Rabba (Bereshit Rabba in Hebrew: בראשית רבה) is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the book of Genesis (Bereshit in Hebrew). Genesis Rabba contains many simple explanations of words and sentences, often in the Aramaic language, suitable for the instruction of youth. It also contains varied haggadic expositions popular in the public lectures of the synagogues and schools. Think of it as an ancient commentary on the scriptures.

Rachel's Theft Created Opportunity
Some say that it was to prevent her father from worshipping them (Bereshith Rabbah 74; Rashi). Others maintain that it was to prevent him from using them in divination to find Jacob (Tanchuma 12; Rashbam; Ibn Ezra; cf. Genesis 30:27; Hosea 3:4, Zechariah 10:2). Still others maintain that Rachel took them to gain her father's pardon (Josephus 1:19:9).

I personally lean toward preventing her father from using them in divination to finding Jacob based on Genesis 30:27. However he did locate them. Hence I am convinced that God was able to use this deceitful act. He warned Laban not to harm Jacob and therefore established Laban and Jacob to meet again and to agree to a covenant not to ever harm one another by creating a border with the altar marker they built.

Genesis 30:27 (New International Version)
27 But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you."